Bright Light Therapy as Augmentation of Pharmacotherapy for Treatment of Depression

Penders, Thomas M.; Stanciu, Cornel N.; Schoemann, Alexander M.; Ninan, Philip T.; Bloch, Richard; Saeed, Sy Atezaz

doi:10.4088/pcc.15r01906

Cited by 61 publications

(70 citation statements)

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“…Light therapy has repeatedly been shown to have an antidepressant effect in seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and also in nonseasonal depression, both as a monotherapy or when used as an adjunct to antidepressants [1,2,3,4,5]. The human physiology is very sensitive to both the intensity and the spectral wavelength composition of light, and even the LED backlight from laptops, which has a high amount of blue light, reduces sleepiness and notably influences circadian physiology when used in the evening [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Depressed Patients Hospitalized in Southeast-Facing Rooms Are Discharged Earlier than Patients in Northwest-Facing Rooms

et al. 2016

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Background and Aim: Improvement in patients admitted to inpatient wards with severe depression is slow, and such patients are often discharged with residual symptoms which put them at risk for relapse. New treatments that can speed up recovery are highly desired. This naturalistic follow-up study in a specialized affective disorders unit investigated the impact of daylight on the length of hospital stay and improvement of depression. Methods: For a period of 1 year, we collected data on sociodemographics, length of stay, vitamin D, and depression severity for patients in an inpatient affective disorders unit. The ward is located with one facade that faces southeast (SE); the opposite one faces northwest (NW) and receives far less light and no direct sunlight during winter. Results: SE-facing rooms received far more daylight than NW-facing rooms. The length of stay was significantly lower in the SE rooms, i.e., 29.2 (±26.8) versus 58.8 (±42.0) days in the NW rooms (p = 0.01). There was a statistically nonsignificant greater reduction of 52.2% in depression severity for the patients staying in the SE rooms compared to 42.2% in the NW rooms, which may nevertheless be clinically relevant. Conclusion: Due to the study design, no causality for the observed difference in length of stay can be given, but the results support findings in previous studies of the importance of architectural orientation providing natural daylight as a factor for improvement.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Depressed Patients Hospitalized in Southeast-Facing Rooms Are Discharged Earlier than Patients in Northwest-Facing Rooms

et al. 2016

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“…Moreover, bright light treatment has also been used as an adjunctive therapy to enhance the effects by conventional antidepressants. A recent metaanalysis of randomized trials revealed efficacy of this approach in bipolar depression and MDD (Penders et al, 2016). An earlier systematic review had arrived at similar, but more cautious conclusions, with regard to both light treatment as monotherapy and adjunctive therapy (Tuunainen et al, 2004).…”

Section: Insert Table 2 About Herementioning

confidence: 98%

Depressive disorders: Processes leading to neurogeneration and potential novel treatments

Brown

McIntyre

Rosenblat

et al. 2018

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry

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“…Regarding other adverse events, previous studies have generally determined that BLT is a noninvasive therapy for treating monopolar or bipolar depression. 15,21,27,28,30,[51][52][53] Based on the RCT included in this review, we also conclude that BLT is a safe treatment for BD within the period investigated (i.e., 8 weeks).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…Chronotherapy has been developed over the past 50 years, and comprises bright light therapy (BLT), sleep deprivation (SD), and sleep phase advance therapy . Among these chronotherapies, BLT has been shown to be the most versatile and is widely used to treat depressive symptoms in seasonal affective disorders and nonseasonal major depression . Although the exact mechanism is unknown, bright light is believed to modulate circadian rhythm dysfunction and autonomic functions and consequently improve mood symptoms .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…13 Among these chronotherapies, BLT has been shown to be the most versatile and is widely used to treat depressive symptoms in seasonal affective disorders 14 and nonseasonal major depression. 15 Although the exact mechanism is unknown, bright light is believed to modulate circadian rhythm dysfunction and autonomic functions and consequently improve mood symptoms. 16 In recent years, an increasing number of randomized controlled trials (RCT) have investigated the effectiveness of BLT for depressive symptoms in patients with BD.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Efficacy and safety of bright light therapy for manic and depressive symptoms in patients with bipolar disorder: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Takeshima

Utsumi

Aoki

et al. 2020

Psychiatry Clin Neurosci

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Aim This systematic review and meta‐analysis evaluated whether bright light therapy (BLT) is an effective and safe treatment for manic/depressive symptoms and a preventive measure for recurrent mood episodes in patients with bipolar disorder. Methods A literature search of major electronic databases was conducted in June 2019, including all published articles up to that date. Two researchers independently selected relevant publications, extracted data, and evaluated methodological quality according to the Cochrane criteria. Results Six randomized controlled trials (RCT) evaluated the efficacy of BLT for bipolar depression. A meta‐analysis found no significant differences between BLT and placebo for the following outcomes: (i) rates of remission from depressive episodes (risk ratio [RR]: 1.81, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.43 to 7.64, P = 0.42); (ii) depressive symptom scores (standardized mean difference: −0.25, 95%CI: −0.74 to 0.23, P = 0.30); and (iii) rates of manic switching (RR: 1.00, 95%CI: 0.28 to 3.59, P = 0.26). The sensitivity analysis for studies with low overall indirectness did show a significant antidepressant effect for BLT (RR: 3.09, 95%CI: 1.62 to 5.90, P = 0.006). No RCT investigated the effect of BLT in preventing the recurrence of mood episodes in the euthymic state or in improving manic symptoms in the manic state. No severe adverse events were reported. Conclusion While a meta‐analysis was unable to demonstrate the efficacy of BLT for bipolar depression, a sensitivity analysis did show a significant effect. Further well‐designed studies are needed to clarify the effectiveness of BLT, not only for the depressive state but also for other states, in the treatment of bipolar disorder.

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Bright Light Therapy as Augmentation of Pharmacotherapy for Treatment of Depression

Cited by 61 publications

References 0 publications

Depressed Patients Hospitalized in Southeast-Facing Rooms Are Discharged Earlier than Patients in Northwest-Facing Rooms

Depressed Patients Hospitalized in Southeast-Facing Rooms Are Discharged Earlier than Patients in Northwest-Facing Rooms

Depressive disorders: Processes leading to neurogeneration and potential novel treatments

Efficacy and safety of bright light therapy for manic and depressive symptoms in patients with bipolar disorder: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

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